macula

See also: Macula and mácula

English

Illustration showing parts of the human eye, including the macula.

Etymology

From Middle English macula (“spot on the skin or in the eye”), borrowed from Latin macula (“spot, stain”). Doublet of macchia.

Noun

macula (plural maculas or maculae)

(anatomy) An oval yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye, histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells, responsible for detailed central vision.
(anatomy, biology) A small chamber of the inner ear of certain vertebrates filled with endolymph and containing an otolith.
A spot, as on the skin, or on the surface of the sun or of some other luminous orb.
A rather large spot or blotch of color.
In planetary geology, an unusually dark area on the surface of a planet or moon.

Related terms

(oval yellow spot near the center of the retina): macula lutea, macular

Translations

anatomy: yellow spot near the center of retina

Catalan: màcula (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 黃斑／黄斑 (zh) (huángbān)
Czech: žlutá skvrna f
Dutch: gele vlek m or f, macula (nl) f
Finnish: keltatäplä
French: macula (fr) f, macula lutea f
German: Gelber Fleck m
Greek: ωχρή κηλίδα f (ochrí kilída)
Ido: makulo (io)
Italian: macula (it) f
Japanese: 黄斑 (おうはん, ōhan)
Persian: لکهٔ زرد‎ (fa) (lakke-ye zard)
Portuguese: mácula (pt) f
Russian: жёлтое пятно́ n (žóltoje pjatnó), ма́кула (ru) f (mákula)

spot

Bulgarian: петно (bg) n (petno)
Finnish: täplä (fi); pilkku (fi) (in the sun)
Ido: makulo (io)
Portuguese: mácula (pt) f, mancha (pt) f

large blot or splotch

Bulgarian: петно (bg) n (petno)
Finnish: läiskä (fi), läikkä (fi)
Italian: macula (it) f
Portuguese: mancha (pt) f

planetary geology: dark area on the surface of planet or moon

Finnish: pilkku (fi), täplä (fi), alue (fi) (depending on relative size)

Catalan

Verb

macula

third-person singular present indicative form of macular
second-person singular imperative form of macular

French

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Verb

macula

third-person singular past historic of maculer

Italian

Alternative forms

macola

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin macula, whence also the inherited doublet macchia.

Noun

macula f (plural macule)

(anatomy, astronomy, geology) macula
stain, blot
(pathology) macule blotch

Synonyms

(stain, blot): macchia

Related terms

maculopatia

Anagrams

caluma, lumaca

Latin

Alternative forms

(Medieval Latin) macla

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *smatlom, from Proto-Indo-European *smh₂-tló-m (possibly meaning “wiping”); related to Ancient Greek σμάω (smáō, “I wipe clean, cleanse”).

Pronunciation

macula: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ku.la/, [ˈmäkʊɫ̪ä]

macula: (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ku.la/, [ˈmäːkulä]
maculā: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ku.laː/, [ˈmäkʊɫ̪äː]

maculā: (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ku.la/, [ˈmäːkulä]

Noun

macula f (genitive maculae); first declension

in a bad sense
1. (literally and in general) a spot, speck, small mark or stain
  1. (literally and in particular) a disfiguring spot, stain, or blemish
    1. (on the skin) a blemish, temporary or permanent (for example, a bruise, freckle, mole, birthmark, etc.)
    2. (on a garment) a stain, an area of soiling or defilement
2. (figuratively) a fault or blemish, a blot on one’s character
3. (transferred sense) a mark of shame or disgrace; a stigma, brand, or blight
in a neutral sense
1. any kind of marking or point of variegation; a speckle, spot, patch, line, or similar
  1. on the skin or coat of an animal
  2. on the leaves of a plant
2. (transferred sense) a mesh in a net, a cell in a network, or a hole in a web
  1. (Medieval Latin, in particular) a cell in a coat of mail, a ring of chainmail
  2. (Medieval Latin, transferred sense) a link in a chain

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	macula	maculae
Genitive	maculae	maculārum
Dative	maculae	maculīs
Accusative	maculam	maculās
Ablative	maculā	maculīs
Vocative	macula	maculae

Derived terms

Macula (cognomen)
maculō
maculōsus
maculātūra

Descendants

Vulgar Latin: *macla
- Italo-Romance
  - Corsican: macchia, machja
    - → English: macchia
    - → French: maquis (see there for further descendants)
    - → German: Macchie
  - Italian: macchia
  - Sicilian: macchia (dialectal)
- Padanian:
  - Emilian: macia
  - Friulian: magle
  - Lombard: màcia, màgia
  - Romagnol: macia
  - Venetian: macia
  - From ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *exmacla
    - Emilian: smacia
    - Lombard: smagia
  - Unclear borrowings (Probably through another Padanian language):
    - → Ligurian: màccia
    - → Piedmontese: macia
- Northern Gallo-Romance:
  - Old French: maille
    - French: maille
    - → Middle English: mayle, mail, maile, maille, male, mayl, mayll, maylle, meile
      - English: mail
      - Scots: mail
    - → Old Portuguese: malla (“mesh”)
      - Galician: malla
      - Portuguese: malha
- Southern Gallo-Romance:
  - Aragonese: malla
  - Catalan: malla
  - Occitan: malha
    - → Italian: maglia
    - → Sicilian: magghia
- Ibero-romance:
  - → Asturian: macla (semi-learned)
  - Old Portuguese: malla (“stain”)
    - Galician: malla
    - Portuguese: malha
Vulgar Latin: *mancla
- Asturian: mancha
- Galician: mancha
- Portuguese: mancha
- Spanish: mancha → mangla (semi-learned)
  - → Portuguese: mangra

Borrowings

→ Catalan: màcula
→ Czech: machule
→ Dutch: macula
→ Galician: mágoa (semi-learned)
→ Italian: macula
→ Middle English: macula, macule
- English: macula
→ Middle French: macule
- French: macule
- → English: macule, mackle
→ Old Irish: mocoll
- Irish: mogall
→ Old High German: makel
- German: Makel
→ Portuguese: mácula; mágoa (semi-learned)
→ Russian: макула (makula)
→ Sicilian: màcula
→ Spanish: mácula
→ Slovak: machuľa

References

“măcŭla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“macula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
macula in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
măcŭla in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 935/2
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to blot out a reproach: maculam (conceptam) delere, eluere
- (ambiguous) to sully one's fair fame: vitae splendori(em) maculas(is) aspergere
“macula” on pages 1,058–1,059 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “macula, macla”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 624/1
de Vaan, Michiel, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, vol. 7 of Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, Alexander Lubotsky ed., Leiden: Brill, 2008.

Middle English

Alternative forms

macule

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin macula. Doublet of mayle.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmakiu̯la/

Noun

macula (plural maculas)

(Late Middle English, rare) A lesion on the eye or skin.

Descendants

English: macula

References

“macula, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-09.

Portuguese

Verb

macula

inflection of macular:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin maculare or French maculer.

Verb

a macula (third-person singular present maculează, past participle maculat) 1st conj.

to mark, to spoil

Conjugation

conjugation of macula (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

number		singular			plural
infinitive			a macula
gerund			maculând
past participle			maculat
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	maculez	maculezi	maculează	maculăm	maculați	maculează
	imperfect	maculam	maculai	macula	maculam	maculați	maculau
	simple perfect	maculai	maculași	maculă	macularăm	macularăți	maculară
	pluperfect	maculasem	maculaseși	maculase	maculaserăm	maculaserăți	maculaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
subjunctive	present	să maculez	să maculezi	să maculeze	să maculăm	să maculați	să maculeze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		maculează			maculați
	negative		nu macula			nu maculați

Spanish

Verb

macula

inflection of macular:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

macula

English

Etymology

Noun

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

Catalan

Verb

French

Pronunciation

Verb

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

Synonyms

Related terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

References

Portuguese

Verb

Romanian

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Spanish

Verb